Dust remover

ABSTRACT

A dust remover includes a rotary brush which removes dust attached to a workpiece, a workpiece carrying section which carries the workpiece in a direction crossing the axial direction of the rotary brush, a brush rotating section which rotates the rotary brush around the axial center of the rotary brush, and a brush back-and-forth movement section which moves the rotary brush back and forth in the axial direction of the rotary brush. The dust remover also includes a motor which is a common driving source for both the brush rotating section and the brush back-and-forth movement section. The brush rotating section has a power transmitting section which transmits the power of the motor to the rotary brush as a rotation of the rotary brush, and the brush back-and-forth movement section has a power transmitting section which converts the power of the motor into a back-and-forth movement of the rotary brush to transmit the back-and-forth movement to the rotary brush.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a dust remover which removes dustattached to a workpiece such as a glass substrate.

BACKGROUND ART

Heretofore, a dust remover has been known where a rotary brush comesinto contact with a workpiece to be carried to scratch and remove dustattached to the workpiece (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos.2003-334499 and 2005-211722). The dust remover disclosed in JapanesePatent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-211722 moves the rotary brush backand forth in the axial direction of the brush with a motor for exclusiveuse in back-and-forth movement while rotating the rotary brush aroundthe axial center of the brush with a motor for exclusive use inrotation, whereby a dust removal effect is improved. As a mechanismwhich moves the rotary brush back and forth, a reciprocating slidercrank mechanism is used.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION Problem to be solved by the Invention

However, a conventional dust remover has a large space for installing areciprocating slider crank mechanism, and it has been difficult tominiaturize the dust remover. The dust remover is also provided with twomotors for exclusive use in the rotation and back-and-forth movement ofthe rotary brush, which enlarges the whole device and increases cost.

An object of the present invention is to provide a dust remover which,needless to say, effectively removes dust and which can miniaturize thewhole device and reduce the cost.

Means for Solving the Problem

A dust remover of the present invention includes: a rotary brush whichremoves dust attached to a workpiece; workpiece carrying means forcarrying the workpiece in a direction crossing the axial direction ofthe rotary brush; brush rotation means for rotating the rotary brusharound the axial center of the rotary brush synchronously with theworkpiece carrying means; and brush back-and-forth movement means formoving the rotary brush back and forth in the axial direction of therotary brush synchronously with the workpiece carrying means. The dustremover also includes a motor which is a common driving source of thebrush rotation means and the brush back-and-forth movement means. Thebrush rotation means has power transmission means for transmitting thepower of the motor to the rotary brush as a rotation of the rotarybrush. The brush back-and-forth movement means has power transmissionmeans for converting the power of the motor into a back-and-forthmovement of the rotary brush to transmit the back-and-forth movement tothe rotary brush.

According to this constitution, one motor is used in both the rotationof the rotary brush and the back-and-forth movement thereof, so that ascompared with a case where the motors for exclusive use are provided,the miniaturization of the whole device and the cost reduction can beachieved.

Here, the examples of the type of the workpiece include a printed wiringboard, a liquid crystal glass substrate, a flexible substrate, a ceramicsubstrate, a plastic plate, a liquid crystal display panel, a vacuumtray, a lens, an optical waveguide plate, a film and paper. The outershape of the workpiece may be a rectangular shape or a disc-like shapesuch as a wafer described later.

Preferably, the power transmission means of the brush back-and-forthmovement means has a cam mechanism, and the cam mechanism has a camfollower, and a cylindrical cam having a cam portion along which the camfollower is guided, and configured to rotate owing to the power of themotor. The cylindrical cam is connected to the rotary brush so as torotate and move back and forth integrally and coaxially with the rotarybrush. The cam follower is fixed to an immobile position so as to allowthe cylindrical cam to rotate when the motor rotates while convertingthe rotation of the cylindrical cam into the back-and-forth movement ofthe cylindrical cam.

According to this constitution, in a case where the motor rotates, therotary brush and the cylindrical cam rotate, while the cam followerallows the cylindrical cam to move back and forth integrally with therotary brush. According to a simple mechanism such as the cam mechanismusing the cylindrical cam, the rotary brush can rotate and move back andforth with a single motor. It is to be noted that the cam portion may bea groove formed in the peripheral surface of the cylindrical cam, or aprotrusion attached to the peripheral surface of the cylindrical cam.

More preferably, the dust remover of the present invention furthercomprises a base which fixes the cam follower to the immobile position;and a rotary shaft which connects the cylindrical cam to the rotarybrush and which rotates and moves back and forth integrally with thecylindrical cam and the rotary brush. The rotary shaft is insertedthrough the cylindrical cam, and fixed to the inside of the cylindricalcam, and a portion of the rotary shaft protruding externally from thecylindrical cam in an axial direction is rotatably and movably supportedon the base.

According to this constitution, the rotary shaft can rotatably andmovably be supported by effectively using the base which fixes the camfollower. Moreover, the cylindrical cam can rotatably be supported viathe supported rotary shaft.

In this case, it is preferable that the rotary shaft includes two rotaryshafts arranged coaxially with each other and that the two rotary shaftsare inserted through the cylindrical cam and fixed to the inside of thecylindrical cam.

According to this constitution, the rotary shaft includes two rotaryshafts, whereby ease of assembling the rotary shafts, the cylindricalcam and the rotary brush can be improved. Moreover, the two rotaryshafts are fixed to the inside of the cylindrical cam, so that thecylindrical cam can effectively be used as a coupling function ofconnecting the two rotary shafts.

Preferably, the cam follower has a pin-like shape. Preferably, the camportion is set so that the rotation number of the cylindrical cam isequal to the amplitude of the cylindrical cam in a back-and-forthdirection. Preferably, the cylindrical cam is made of a plastic, and thecam follower is made of a metal. Alternatively, the cylindrical cam andthe cam follower are preferably made of a metal.

Preferably, the rotary brush is constituted so as to perform areciprocation in the back-and-forth direction every time the rotarybrush rotates once. Preferably, the rotary brush has a first end intowhich the power for the rotation is input from the power transmissionmeans of the brush rotation means, and a second end into which the powerfor the back-and-forth movement is input from the power transmissionmeans of the brush back-and-forth movement means. More preferably, thefirst and second ends are positioned in the axial center of the rotarybrush. Preferably, the motor has an output shaft coaxially with therotary brush. More preferably, the output shaft is connected to theaxial center of the rotary brush via the power transmission means of thebrush rotation means. Alternatively, the power transmission means of thebrush rotation means preferably has a main shaft connected to the outputshaft, a spline boss formed integrally with the main shaft, a splineshaft fitted into the spline boss, and a coupling which connects thespline shaft to the rotary brush.

Preferably, the workpiece carrying means carries the workpiece in adirection crossing the axial direction of the rotary brush. Preferably,the rotary brush is constituted so as to come in contact with theworkpiece. Preferably, the rotary brush has an implanted portionconstituted of a conductive fiber, and the implanted portion comes inrotating contact with the surface of the workpiece. Preferably, the dustremover of the present invention further includes a height adjustmentmechanism constituted so as to adjust the height of the rotary brush inaccordance with the thickness of the workpiece.

According to another preferable mode of the present invention, the powertransmission means of the brush back-and-forth movement means has a cammechanism, and the cam mechanism has a cam follower, a cam portion alongwhich the cam follower is guided, and a cylindrical cam which rotatesowing to the power of the motor. The cylindrical cam is provided so thatthe axial direction of the cylindrical cam is parallel to that of therotary brush. The cam follower is connected to the rotary brush so thatthe cam follower moves back and forth integrally with the rotary brushwhen the motor rotates.

According to this constitution, when the motor rotates, the rotary brushand the cylindrical cam rotate. When this cylindrical cam rotates, thecam follower (a driven node) performs a reciprocation (a back-and-forthmovement) integrally with and in parallel with the rotary brush. Thus,the rotary brush can be rotated and moved back and forth with a singlemotor owing to a simple mechanism such as the cam mechanism using thecylindrical cam. It is to be noted that the cam portion may be a grooveformed in the peripheral surface of the cylindrical cam or a protrusionattached to the peripheral surface of the cylindrical cam.

According to another viewpoint to reach the present invention, the dustremover of the present invention can be applied not only to theworkpiece to be carried but also to a workpiece to be rotated.

That is, a dust remover comprises: a rotary brush which removes dustattached to the surface of a disc-like workpiece; workpiece rotationmeans for rotating the workpiece around the axial center of theworkpiece; brush rotation means for rotating the rotary brush around theaxial center of the rotary brush synchronously with the workpiecerotation means; brush back-and-forth movement means for moving therotary brush in the diametric direction of the workpiece synchronouslywith the workpiece rotation means; and a motor which is a common drivingsource of the brush rotation means and the brush back-and-forth movementmeans. The brush rotation means has power transmission means fortransmitting the power of the motor to the rotary brush as a rotation ofthe rotary brush. The brush back-and-forth movement means has powertransmission means for converting the power of the motor into aback-and-forth movement of the rotary brush to transmit theback-and-forth movement to the rotary brush.

It is to be noted that the examples of the disc-like workpiece include awafer and a disk medium such as a compact disk (CD).

EFFECT OF THE INVENTION

According to the dust remover of the present invention, dust caneffectively be removed, the whole device can be miniaturized, and costcan be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a dust remover according to a firstembodiment;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the dust remover shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the enlarged main partof the dust remover shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view similar to FIG. 3, (a) is a diagramin an initial state, (b) is a diagram at a time when a motor rotates asmuch as ¼ from the initial state, (c) is a diagram at a time when themotor rotates as much as 2/4 from the initial state, and (d) is adiagram at a time when the motor rotates as much as ¾ from the initialstate;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view schematically showing the enlarged main partof a dust remover according to a second embodiment; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view schematically showing the enlarged main partof a dust remover according to a third embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

A dust remover according to a preferable embodiment of the presentinvention will hereinafter be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings. This dust remover removes, with a brush, trash,dust and dirt attached to the surface (the upper surface) of a workpiecewhich is any substrate. This type of trash, dust and dirt willhereinafter be referred to as the “dust”.

First Embodiment

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the main part of a dust remover, and FIG.2 is a plan view showing the main part of the dust remover.

A dust remover 1 has a lower base 2 on a stand (not shown), and aworkpiece treatment area for performing a dist removal operation withrespect to a workpiece W (the substrate) is constituted above the lowerbase 2.

Examples of the type of the workpiece W include a printed wiring board,a liquid crystal glass substrate, a flexible substrate, a ceramicsubstrate, a plastic plate, a liquid crystal display panel, a vacuumtray, a lens, a waveguide plate, a film and paper. Here, the workpiece Whaving a rectangular outer shape as a whole is used.

A first support stand 3 and a second support stand 4 are horizontallyarranged apart from each other on the lower base 2. An upper base 5 ispositioned so as to extend in an upper portion between the first supportstand 3 and the second support stand 4. The upper base 5 has a main bodybase 51 extending in a horizontal direction. A right vertical base 52, amiddle vertical base 53 and a left vertical base 54 hang from the lowersurface of the main body base 51. The right vertical base 52 and theleft vertical base 54 are constituted slidably in a vertical directionwith respect to the first support stand 3 and the second support stand4.

The first support stand 3 and the second support stand 4 have heightadjustment mechanisms 6, 6 attached to upper ends, respectively. Theheight adjustment mechanisms 6, 6 move the upper base 5 in the verticaldirection via the right vertical base 52 and the left vertical base 54.In consequence, the position of any type of component (e.g., a rotarybrush 11 described later) assembled onto the upper base 5 in thevertical direction can be adjusted with respect to the thickness of theworkpiece W.

In the workpiece treatment area, there are arranged the rotary brush 11which removes dust attached to the workpiece W, workpiece carrying means12 which carries the workpiece W in one direction, brush rotation means13 which rotates the rotary brush 11 around the axial center of thebrush, and brush back-and-forth movement means 14 which moves the rotarybrush 11 back and forth in the axial direction of the brushsynchronously with the workpiece carrying means 12. The brush rotationmeans 13 and the brush back-and-forth movement means 14 include a motor15 which is a common driving source.

The axial direction of the rotary brush 11, that is, the back-and-forthdirection of the rotary brush 11 crosses the carrying direction of theworkpiece W at right angles. However, these directions may cross eachother at an angle other than 90 degrees.

A dust removal operation is performed by the dust remover 1 in which therotary brush 11 is moved back and forth in the axial direction, whilerolling the rotary brush 11 from the upside with respect to a part ofthe workpiece W to be carried. In consequence, the dust is removed fromthe whole surface of the workpiece W. It is to be noted that during thedust removal operation, air is blown to the workpiece W with a blower(not shown), and the blown air is sucked and discharged from theworkpiece treatment area together with the dust.

The rotary brush 11 is constituted of a so-called conductive brush, andconductive fibers having a diameter of, for example, about several tenμm are implanted in the peripheral surface of a substantially columnarbrush main body. The implanted portion of the rotary brush 11 comes inrotating contact with the surface of the workpiece W to scratch andremove the dust attached to the surface of the workpiece W, and thebrush also removes static electricity from the surface of the workpieceW.

The height (the gap) of the rotary brush 11 is adjusted by the heightadjustment mechanisms 6, 6, whereby the brush is constituted so as totreat the workpieces W having different thicknesses. The rotary brush 11also extends long in the horizontal direction so as to treat theworkpiece W having a large width. Then, the power for the rotation ofthe brush rotation means 13 is input into a protrusion-like right end 41of the rotary brush 11, and the power for the reciprocation of the brushback-and-forth movement means 14 is input into a protrusion-like leftend 42 of the rotary brush 11. The right end 41 and the left end 42 arepositioned in the axial center of the rotary brush 11.

The workpiece carrying means 12 has a pair of left and right guides 34,34 which guide the opposite side surfaces of the workpiece W to becarried. The workpiece carrying means 12 has a pair of belt conveyors(not shown) which support the lower portions of the opposite ends of theworkpiece W and convey this, and a driving motor which drives each beltconveyor. The pair of belt conveyors carry the workpiece W opposed tothe rotary brush 11 disposed above so that the workpiece W brought intocontact with the rotary brush 11 passes through this rotary brush.

The workpiece carrying means 12 has a workpiece width adjustmentmechanism including a pair of front and back rails 36, 36 installed onthe lower base 2. The workpiece width adjustment mechanism allows a pairof belt conveyors to carry any type of workpiece W having a differentwidth while guiding the workpiece with the pair of guides 34, 34.

The motor 15 is constituted of a DC motor or a stepping motor providedwith a rectifier or a brush. An output shaft 61 of the motor 15 has thesame axis as that of the rotary brush 11, and connected to the axialcenter of the rotary brush 11 via power transmission means 70 describedlater. The motor 15 rotates synchronously with the driving motor of theworkpiece carrying means 12 during the dust removal operation.

The motor 15 is attached to a bracket 63, and the bracket 63 is fixed tothe right vertical base 52 of the upper base 5 so as to extend throughthe first support stand 3. Therefore, in a case where the upper base 5vertically moves to adjust the gap, the motor 15 and the rotary brush 11integrally move up and down.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view schematically showing the enlarged main partof the dust remover 1 shown in FIG. 1. The brush rotation means 13includes the power transmission means 70 for transmitting the power ofthe motor 61 to the rotary brush 11 as the rotation of the rotary brush11.

The brush back-and-forth movement means 14 includes power transmissionmeans 80 for converting the power of the output shaft 61 into aback-and-forth movement of the rotary brush 11 to transmit theback-and-forth movement to the rotary brush 11.

The power transmission means 70 is constituted of a main shaft 72connected to the output shaft 61 of the motor 15, a spline boss 73formed integrally with the main shaft 72, and a spline shaft 74 whichfits into the spline boss 73. The spline boss 73 is rotatably supportedby the right vertical base 52 of the upper base 5 via a bearing 76. Thespline shaft 74 is connected to the right end 41 of the rotary brush 11via a coupling 77.

A square spline constituted of the spline boss 73 and the spline shaft74 integrally rotates owing to the rotation of the motor 15. This squarespline rotates the rotary brush 11 to which the rotary force of themotor 15 has been transmitted, and allows the brush back-and-forthmovement means 14 to move the rotary brush 11 back and forth in theaxial direction during the rotation of the brush. It is to be notedthat, needless to say, a ball spline may be used instead of the squarespline.

The power transmission means 80 has a cam mechanism including acylindrical cam 81 and a cam follower 82. The peripheral surface of thecylindrical cam 81 is provided with a cam groove (a cam portion) 83along which the cam follower 82 is guided. It is to be noted thatinstead of the cam groove 83, the peripheral surface of the cylindricalcam 81 may be provided with a protrusion to guide the cam follower 82.

The cylindrical cam 81 is arranged coaxially with the rotary brush 11. Arotary shaft 91 is inserted through the axial center of the cylindricalcam 81. The rotary shaft 91 is constituted of two rotary shafts 91 a, 91b arranged along the same axis, and two rotary shafts 91 a, 91 b arefixed to the inside of the cylindrical cam 81. That is, the cylindricalcam 81 also functions as a coupling to connect two rotary shafts 91 a,91 b to each other.

One end of the rotary shaft 91 a is inserted into the cylindrical cam 81from the right side, and fixed to this cam, whereas the other end of theshaft is connected to the left end 42 of the rotary brush 11 via acoupling 92. Moreover, the intermediate portion of the rotary shaft 91 aextending externally from the cylindrical cam 81 in the axial directionis rotatably and movably supported by the middle vertical base 53 via abush 93.

One end of the rotary shaft 91 b is inserted into the cylindrical cam 81from the left side, and fixed to this cam. Moreover, the portion of theother end of the rotary shaft 91 b extending externally from thecylindrical cam 81 in the axial direction is rotatably and movablysupported by the left vertical base 54 via a bush 94. It is to be notedthat the other end of the rotary shaft 91 b inserted through the bush 94can be constituted to extend through the second support stand 4.

According to such a constitution, the rotary shaft 91 (the rotary shafts91 a, 91 b) connects the cylindrical cam 81 to the rotary brush 11, androtates and moves back and forth integrally with the cylindrical cam andthe rotary brush. The rotary shaft 91 is constituted of two rotaryshafts 91 a, 91 b as in the present embodiment, whereby the rotary shaft91, the cylindrical cam 81 and the rotary brush 11 are easily assembled.

Specifically, a workability can be improved in a case where thecylindrical cam 81 is arranged between the middle vertical base 53 andthe left vertical base 54, and the rotary shaft 91 is supported by thesevertical bases 53, 54 via the bushes 93, 94. Moreover, a workability ina case where the rotary brush 11 is connected to the rotary shaft 91 viathe coupling 92 can be improved. It is to be noted that the middlevertical base 53 and the left vertical base 54 function as bush holdersfor holding the bushes 93, 94, and are constituted integrally with orseparately from the main body base 51.

The cam follower 82 has a pin-like shape. The cam follower 82 isattached to an attachment member 101 fixed to the lower surface of themain body base 51 so as to face downwards. In consequence, the camfollower 82 is fixed to an immobile position so that the follower doesnot move, even when the motor 15 rotates. When the motor 15 rotates, thecam follower 82 is guided along the cam groove 83 to convert therotation of the cylindrical cam 81 into the back-and-forth movement ofthe cylindrical cam 81, while allowing the rotation of the cylindricalcam 81.

That is, when the motor 15 rotates, the cam follower 82 in the fixedposition allows the cylindrical cam 81 and the rotary brush 11 tointegrally rotate while moving back and forth in the axial direction.Then, the cam groove 83 of the present embodiment is set so that therotation number of the cylindrical cam 81 is equal to the number ofamplitude (the number of reciprocation times) in the back-and-forthdirection, and the cylindrical cam 81 and the rotary brush 11 performthe reciprocation once in the back-and-forth direction every time theyrotate once.

Here, as a material of the cylindrical cam 81 and the cam follower 82, ahard resin or any type of metal may be applied. For example, both of thecylindrical cam 81 and the cam follower 82 may be made of a plastic suchas nylon, and one of them may be made of a metal such as stainlesssteel. When the plastic is used in the material, the operation sound ofthe device can be reduced. However, from a viewpoint that the wear ofthe cam groove 83 be suppressed, both of the cylindrical cam 81 and thecam follower 82 are preferably made of stainless steel.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view similar to FIG. 3, showing theback-and-forth movement of the rotary brush 11 with an elapse of time.

In an initial state shown in FIG. 4( a), when the motor 15 rotates asmuch as ¼, the rotary brush 11 and the cylindrical cam 81 advance towardthe left while rotating, and move to a position shown in FIG. 4( b).When the motor 15 further rotates as much as ¼, the rotary brush 11 andthe cylindrical cam 81 advance toward a leftmost position whilerotating, and move to a position shown in FIG. 4( c). Then, when themotor 15 further rotates as much as ½, the rotary brush 11 and thecylindrical cam 81 start advancing toward the right while rotating, andadvance toward a rightmost position via a position shown in FIG. 4( d)to return to the position shown in FIG. 4( a).

As described above, according to the dust remover 1 of the presentembodiment, the rotary brush 11 is moved back and forth in the axialdirection while coming into rotating contact with the surface of theworkpiece W which is being carried, so that the dust attached to theworkpiece W can preferably be removed. Especially, the number of theback-and-forth movements (the number of the reciprocations) of therotary brush 11 can be set to be equal to the rotation number of thebrush, and a dust removal effect can be improved.

Moreover, the rotary brush 11 can be rotated and moved back and forthwith one motor 15, so that as compared with a case where motors forexclusive use in the rotation and the back-and-forth movement areprovided, the number of the motors can be reduced, and cost can bereduced. Furthermore, the cam mechanism including the cylindrical cam 81is employed, so that a simple mechanism for moving the rotary brush 11back and forth can be constituted, and the reduction of an installationspace and the miniaturization of the whole device can be achieved.

It is to be noted that instead of the constitution for carrying theworkpiece W in the present embodiment, the workpiece W may be set to animmobile state in a predetermined position, and the rotary brush 11 maybe moved in a direction crossing the back-and-forth direction of thebrush at right angles while moving the rotary brush 11 back and forthwith respect to the workpiece. In this case, for example, a movable basewhich integrally supports the brush rotation means 13 and the brushback-and-forth movement means 14 may be provided, and this movable basemay be moved synchronously with the brush rotation means 13 and thebrush back-and-forth movement means 14 in one direction (the carryingdirection of the workpiece W) by driving a ball screw or the like.

Second Embodiment

Next, a dust remover 1 according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention will be described mainly with respect to a characteristicdifferent from the first embodiment with reference to FIG. 5. Theembodiment is different from the first embodiment mainly in that theconstitution of the power transmission means 80 of the brushback-and-forth movement means 14 is changed. It is to be noted that arotary brush 11, workpiece carrying means 12, brush rotation means 13and a motor 15 are the same as those of the first embodiment, anddenoted with the same reference numerals as those of the firstembodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

The power transmission means 80 has a cam mechanism including acylindrical cam 121 and a cam follower 122. The peripheral surface ofthe cylindrical cam 121 is provided with a cam groove (a cam portion)123 along which the cam follower 122 is guided. It is to be noted thatinstead of the cam groove 123, the peripheral surface of the cylindricalcam 121 may be provided with a protrusion to guide the cam follower 122.

The axial direction of the cylindrical cam 121 is provided in parallelwith that of the rotary brush 11. A support shaft 130 is insertedthrough the axial center of the cylindrical cam 121. The support shaft130 is rotatably supported under a middle vertical base 53 and a leftvertical base 54. One end of the support shaft 130 is secured to a gear140 which inputs a power for rotating the support shaft 130.

An output shaft 61 of the motor 15 is secured to a drive gear 141. Thedrive gear 141 transmits the power to the gear 140 which engages with agear 146 via, for example, a gear row constituted of three gears 142,143 and 144, a transmission shaft 145 and the gear 146. According tosuch a constitution, the cylindrical cam 121 rotates owing to the powerof the motor 15.

The cam follower 122 is attached to a back-and-forth movement shaft 150via an attachment member 101. The back-and-forth movement shaft 150 ispositioned coaxially with the rotary brush 11, and extends in ahorizontal direction. A portion of one end of the back-and-forthmovement shaft 150 is movably supported by the left vertical base 54 viaa bush 94. The other end of the back-and-forth movement shaft 150 isconnected to a joint portion 160.

The joint portion 160 coaxially connects the back-and-forth movementshaft 150 to a rotary shaft 170, and is constituted to block thetransmission of a rotary force from the rotary shaft 170 to theback-and-forth movement shaft 150. That is, even when the rotary shaft170 rotates, the back-and-forth movement shaft 150 does not rotate. Onthe other hand, in a case where the back-and-forth movement shaft 150moves back and forth in a horizontal direction, the rotary shaft 170moves back and forth in the horizontal direction integrally with thejoint portion 160 and the back-and-forth movement shaft 150.

One end of the rotary shaft 170 is connected to the joint portion 160,and the other end of the rotary shaft is connected to a coupling 92. Thecoupling 92 is connected to a left end 42 of the rotary brush 11.Moreover, an intermediate portion of the rotary shaft 170 is rotatablyand movably supported by the middle vertical base 53 via a bush 93.

According to the above constitution, when the motor 15 rotates, therotary brush 11, the rotary shaft 170 and the cylindrical cam 121rotate. At this time, the cam follower 122 is guided along the camgroove 123, whereby the cam follower 122 and the back-and-forth movementshaft 150 move back and forth in the horizontal direction. Thisback-and-forth movement is transmitted to the rotary brush 11 via thejoint portion 160, the rotary shaft 170 and the like. In consequence,when the motor 15 rotates, the rotary brush 11 moves back and forthintegrally with the cam follower 122, while rotating.

Therefore, even the dust remover 1 of the present embodiment can producefunction and effect similar to those of the first embodiment. Inparticular, according to the present embodiment, the gear ratio ofvarious gears (140, 141, 142, 143, 144 and 146) is set, whereby therotation number of the rotary brush 11 and the amplitude (the number ofthe reciprocations) in the back-and-forth direction can be varied, andboth the numbers may be set to different numbers. It is to be noted thata material similar to that of the first embodiment may be applied tothat of the cylindrical cam 121 and the cam follower 122.

Third Embodiment

Next, a dust remover 1 according to a third embodiment of the presentinvention will be described mainly with respect to a characteristicdifferent from the first embodiment with reference to FIG. 6. Aworkpiece W for use in the present embodiment sometimes has a disc-likeouter shape, and is, for example, a silicon semiconductor wafer or adisk medium such as a compact disk (CD). Therefore, the third embodimentincludes workpiece rotation means 171 for rotating the workpiece Waround an axial center 173 of the workpiece, instead of the workplacecarrying means 12 of the first embodiment. It is to be noted that aconstitution other than the workpiece W and the workpiece rotation means171 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and is denoted with thesame reference numerals as those of the first embodiment, and thedescription thereof is omitted.

The workpiece rotation means 171 has a rotary shaft arranged on the sameaxis as the central axis 173 of the workpiece W, and a rotary tableattached to the distal end of the rotary shaft, although they are notshown. It is constituted that the workpiece W can be mounted on therotary table. Then, a rotary brush 11 is arranged above the workpiecerotation means 171, and the rotary brush 11 is connected to brushrotation means 13 and brush back-and-forth movement means 14 asdescribed above. The brush rotation means 13 and the brushback-and-forth movement means 14 include a motor 15 which is a commondriving source.

In a dust removal operation to be performed by the dust remover 1 of thepresent embodiment, the motor 15 rotates synchronously with the rotationof the workpiece W performed by the workpiece rotation means 171. Inconsequence, the rotary brush 11 moves back and forth in the axialdirection of the rotating workpiece W, while the rotary brush 11 rotatesaround the axial center. In this case, the rotary brush 11 comes incontact with the workpiece W to remove dust attached to the surface ofthe workpiece W. Therefore, even the present embodiment can producefunction and effect similar to those of the first embodiment.

It is to be noted that in the above embodiments, the rotary brush 11 isdirectly brought into contact with the surface of the workpiece W.However, in the non-contact state of the rotary brush 11 with respect tothe surface of the workpiece W, that is, even in a case where the rotarybrush 11 comes close to the surface of the workpiece W with a slight gapfrom the surface, the rotary brush 11 can remove the dust from thesurface of the workpiece W.

1. A dust remover comprising: a rotary brush which removes dust attachedto a workpiece; workpiece carrying means for carrying the workpiece in adirection crossing the axial direction of the rotary brush; brushrotation means for rotating the rotary brush around the axial center ofthe rotary brush synchronously with the workpiece carrying means: brushback-and-forth movement means for moving the rotary brush back and forthin the axial direction of the rotary synchronously with the workpiececarrying means; and a motor which is a common driving source of thebrush rotation means and the brush back-and-forth movement means,wherein the brush rotation means has power transmission means fortransmitting the power of the motor to the rotary brush as a rotation ofthe rotary brush, and the brush back-and-forth movement means has powertransmission means for converting the power of the motor into aback-and-forth movement of the rotary brush to transmit theback-and-forth movement to the rotary brush.
 2. The dust removeraccording to claim 1, wherein the power transmission means of the brushback-and-forth movement means has a cam mechanism, the cam mechanism hasa cam follower, and a cylindrical cam having a cam portion along whichthe cam follower is guided, the cylindrical cam being configured torotate owing to the power of the motor, the cylindrical cam is connectedto the rotary brush so as to rotate and move back and forth integrallyand coaxially with the rotary brush, and the cam follower is fixed to animmobile position so as to allow the cylindrical cam to rotate when themotor rotates while converting the rotation of the cylindrical cam intothe back-and-forth movement of the cylindrical cam.
 3. The dust removeraccording to claim 2, further comprising: a base which fixes the camfollower to the immobile position; and a rotary shaft which connects thecylindrical cam to the rotary brush and which rotates and moves back andforth integrally with the cylindrical cam and the rotary brush, whereinthe rotary shaft is inserted through the cylindrical cam and fixed tothe inside of the cylindrical cam, and a portion of the rotary shaftprotruding externally from the cylindrical cam in the axial direction isrotatably and movably supported on the base.
 4. the dust removeraccording to claim 3, wherein the rotary shaft includes two rotaryshafts arranged coaxially with each other, and the two rotary shafts areinserted through the cylindrical cam and fixed to the inside of thecylindrical cam.
 5. The dust remover according to claim 2, wherein thecam follower has a pin-like shape.
 6. The dust remover according toclaim 2, wherein the cam portion is set so that the rotation number ofthe cylindrical cam is equal to the amplitude of the cylindrical cam isa back-and-forth direction.
 7. The dust remover according to claim 2,wherein the cylindrical cam is made of a plastic, and the cam followeris made of a metal.
 8. The dust remover according to claim 2 wherein thecylindrical cam and the cam follower are made of a metal.
 9. The dustremover according to claim 2, wherein the rotary brush is constituted soas to perform a reciprocation in the back-and-forth direction every timethe rotary brush rotates once.
 10. The dust remover according to claim2, wherein the rotary brush has a first end into which the power for therotation is input from the power transmission means of the brushrotation means, and a second end into which the power for theback-and-forth movement is input from the power transmission means ofthe brush back-and-forth movement means.
 11. The dust remover accordingto claim 10, wherein the first and second ends are positioned in theaxial center of the rotary brush.
 12. The dust remover according toclaim 2, wherein the motor has an output shaft coaxially with the rotarybrush.
 13. The dust remover according to claim 12, wherein the outputshaft is connected to the axial center of the rotary brush via the powertransmission means of the brush rotation means.
 14. the dust removeraccording to claim 12, wherein the power transmission means of the brushrotation means has a main shaft connected to the output shaft, a splineboss formed integrally with the main shaft, a spline shaft fitted intothe spline boss, and a coupling connecting the spline shaft to therotary brush.
 15. The dust remover according to any claim 2, wherein theworkpiece carrying means carries the workpiece in a direction crossingthe axial direction of the rotary brush.
 16. The dust remover accordingto claim 2, wherein the rotary brush is constituted so as to come incontact with the workpiece.
 17. The dust remover according to claim 2,wherein the rotary brush has an implanted portion constituted of aconductive fiber, and the implanted portion comes in rotating contactwith a surface of the workpiece.
 18. The dust remover according to claim2, further comprising: a height adjustment mechanism constituted so asto adjust the height of the rotary brush in accordance with thethickness of the workpiece.
 19. The dust remover according to claim 2,wherein the workpiece is at least one of a printed wiring board, aliquid crystal glass substrate, a flexible substrate, a ceramicsubstrate, a plastic plate, a liquid crystal display panel a vacuumtray, a lens, an optical waveguide plate and a film.
 20. The dustremover according to claim 2, wherein the whole outer shape of theworkpiece is a rectangular shape.
 21. The dust remover according toclaim 1, wherein the power transmission means of the brushback-and-forth movement means has a cam mechanism, the cam mechanism hasa cam follower, and a cylindrical cam having a cam portion along whichthe cam follower is guided, the cylindrical cam being configured torotate owing to the power of the motor, the axial direction of thecylindrical cam is provided in parallel with that of the rotary brush,and the cam follower is connected to the rotary blush so as to move backand forth integrally with the rotary brush when the motor rotates.